It houses a sacred golden statue of Kali, a much-revered icon in this part of Malaysia, and it’s the only sea-facing temple dedicated to the Goddess in the whole country. With pure gold sections, the temple is now set on a concrete esplanade next to the sea in the village of Sungai Pinang Besar. “We have finished the new Kali Amman temple after five years of hard work and raising donation money,” said Mohana Dass, the chairman of Pangkor’s Kali Amman Temple, which cost about 3-million Malaysian Ringgit to complete, when I met him in February 2019. The temple has been rebuilt and re-opened in 2019 and now boasts a new shrine. Located on the waterfront at Sungai Pinang Besar, Kali Amman Temple (also called Sri Pathirakaliamman Temple) is Pangkor’s only Hindu temple, and also Malaysia’s only sea-facing Indian shrine. There are many things to do on Pangkor island, one of Perak’s best attractions, but we think that visiting the Kali Amman Temple during festival celebrations is particularly interesting. The sacred golden Kali statue inside of Pangkor's Kali Amman Temple (image © Kit Yeng Chan)